Monday, April 14, 2014

V10:Chapter Two-Secret Weapon

“From
her descriptions,” the doc said, “I believe Rex has created some kind of homunculus.
A beast intelligent enough to take commands, but with enough brute strength to
tear a man in half.”

“Tear
a man in half,” Dodger echoed. That was an awful specific thing for the doc to
say. As if the man had heard it somewhere. Perhaps from the lips of a young
girl?

The
doc looked over his spectacles at Dodger, nodding at the unasked question.

Dodger
glanced to Lelanea for confirmation.

She
nodded as well. “‘Like he was made of paper’ was how she described it.”

“Like
the man was made of paper,” the doc said, then gave a long sigh. “I am afraid
this has been his end game all along. The genetic manipulation with the dog
soldiers and the buffalo, the use of the SCWAK Boxes, everything has come down
to this. Using my science, he’s creating an army of beasts poised to take over
your country. Then who knows, perhaps the world?”

“And
what about the Sleipnir?” Dodger said. “Why does he want the train so badly if
he already has an army of monsters?”

“Feng
said it best, Mr. Dodger. He doesn’t just want the train. He wants us. All of
us. This train represents a collected threat to his potential dynasty. He
doesn’t want just me or you. He wants us as whole.”

“And
he won’t shtop until he getsh ush,” Ched said.

Dodger’s
skin crawled at the thought of Rex unleashing such terrible things upon the
unsuspecting public.

“If
I had all of the time in the world,” the doc said, “I would fashion an army of
my own. A legion of mechanical men to protect us against such a line of beasts.
But time is not with us. Therefore, we must gather what resources we have at
our command.”

Dodger
grinned. “Either that or buy back what we can?”

The
doc nodded. “You see where I am going with this?”

“I
think so, sir.” But of course it couldn’t be as simple as just going into town
and buying back a mechanism. Something had to complicate matters.

Something
that involved Dodger posing as Lelanea’s spouse.

“What
am I missing?” Dodger said. “Why do I need to marry your niece just to buy back
a hunk of metal?”

“Oh
that?” the doc said. “Simple enough. I would fetch him myself, but as you have
seen, I don’t have much luck when it comes to paying return visits to previous
points of sales.”

“You
can say that again, sir.”

“I
would fetch it myself, but as you have seen, I don’t have much luck paying
return visits to previous points of sales.” The doc furrowed his furry brow. “Was
that clearer? Or shall I repeat it a third time?”

Dodger
balled a fist to keep his nerves in check. “No. Please go on.”

“Where
was I? Oh, yes, I can’t go, which means someone else with a comprehensive
understanding of how Torque works must go in my stead.”

“Which
leaves me,” Lelanea said.

“And
the last time I was at Boulder Shadow, the men were, how should I put this?
Terrible. Unfit for civilized company. All rough and no polish. They were all
miners, you see? A town of all male miners.” The doc thought about this a
moment. “Male as in men. Not mail as in postage. They didn’t mine for mail.
That’s just silly. Imagine digging packages and letters out of the soil.”

“Far
be it from me to judge the needs of others. They purchased and I provided, no
questions asked. As I handle all of my business transactions.”

“The
point is,” Lelanea said, “Uncle doesn’t want me to go into the masculine town
on my own. He worries about my honor.”

Dodger
did his best to repress a snort of laughter.

Ched
did not.

Cutting
her eyes at the not-dead man, Lelanea set her jaw and said, “I will have to go
in to make sure the thing is worth salvaging, but Uncle doesn’t want me to
travel unaccompanied.”

“While
I trust your technical abilities, Mr. Dodger,” the doc said, “this is a task
best befitting my niece. It would take extra time to show you what makes it
tick, as it were. Time we don’t have. Lelanea can go in now, assess PAUL and
determine if it’s still functioning enough to warrant buying it back from the
town. You will go in and pose as her spouse, to keep rough hands and wandering
eyes away from her.”

“Can’t
I just go as her bodyguard?” Dodger said.

“Certainly
not. I don’t want folks to think of her as just protected; I want them to see
her as completely inaccessible. And I want them to see the source of their
worry, should they try to access her anyways.”

Are you fine with this? Dodger said
under his mind.

Lelanea
stared at him, but didn’t answer.

Miss Lelanea? Dodger said,
cutting his eyes at her.

She
narrowed her eyes in return, then shook her head, as if she didn’t understand
him.

Or
perhaps she didn’t hear him?

“Stop
that,” the doc said.

Dodger
furrowed his brow at the man. “Stop what?”

“That
secret whispering thing you’re doing. If there is something that needs saying,
then by all means say it aloud.”

“Sorry,
Uncle,” Lelanea said. “We can talk about it later, Dodger.”

Dodger
nodded, wondering why she didn’t answer him.

“If
y’all are done communin’,” Ched said, “maybe we can get back to the resht of
thish?”

Lelanea
talked over him. “It means exactly what it sounds like. He expects Washington
to operate this mechanical man from the inside. Like a suit of armor.”

“Or
a shecond shkin,” Ched said.

Dodger’s
mind raced at the possibilities of the doc’s idea. The wonder, the excitement,
as well as the world of trouble such an application presented. If they could
get Boon inside of a mechanical man like Torque, only much larger, then the
odds would tip far into their favor. Not even an army of bulldogs could fight
off a machine like that.

“That
sounds amazing,” Sarah said.

“Is
it even possible?” Dodger said.

“I
think so,” the doc said.

“Think
or know? Because I hate to be the one to remind you of this, but we are little
more than a week from doomsday if we don’t get to Rex’s compound and put a stop
to him. Monstrosities or no monstrosities. We know where he is and we know the
layout of his compound. While I would love extra help, from Boon or PAUL or anyone,
I can’t condone getting further sidetracked by a plan that may or may not work.
Especially one that takes us so far out of our way.”

“Understood.
May I at least explain my hypothesis? Perhaps you will better understand how
valuable this is if you know how it works. Yes?”

Dodger
rubbed his eyes and nodded. He knew there was no point in arguing.

The
doc cleared his throat. “I think I have found a way to allow Boon to interface
with machinery utilizing the same principles of the DREAM machine. I have
constructed a conducer similar to the beanies I fitted you and Lelanea with
earlier. Boon agreed to allow me to store his spirit or essence or whatever you
want to call it inside of this conducer along with a resonator coil and a
myriad of other components that I fear will take far too long to explain.”

“That
is all well and good, sir,” Dodger said, “but it don’t answer my question. Will
it work, or not?”

“Unfortunately,
I can’t answer that with one hundred percent certainty, which is why I have
prepared a little experiment. Chester, please hand me the device.”

Ched
stood from his seat and twisted to the left, lifting a cloth wrapped bundle
from its hidden spot beside the chair, near the door. He passed the bundle to
the doc, who accepted the weight with a discrete grunt. The doc unwrapped the
thing, revealing a glowing blue tube. The thing look just like an ARC, those
strange metal tubes with recorded messages scratched on the surface. But
knowing the doc, this thing was host to a whole different sort of trouble.